It will be far more ambitious than one of those casual 30-minute weightlifting sessions in his basement five days a week. He’ll be on a much longer, vigorous program with a lot at stake.

The mission: Shape up, re-energize and strengthen Canada’s sagging labour movement. And at the same time, gain some significant political and social influence to change the country.

Barring the emergence of a serious challenger, the sturdy former shop floor hell raiser, who still sports a youthful shock of black hair from his de Havilland days, will become the president of new super union Unifor at its founding convention here Saturday.

About 2,100 delegates from the Canadian Auto Workers and Communications, Energy and Paperworkers plan to adopt a constitution, elect new leaders and merge into the country’ss biggest private-sector union. It will represent about 300,000 workers in almost every sector of the economy from manufacturing and mining to forestry and fishing.

“I’m pumped,” says Dias, not realizing the fitness connection. “This is an incredible opportunity for all of us interested in improving the lives of Canadians.

Dias is currently a top assistant to retiring CAW president Ken Lewenza. He has received the key endorsement for the Unifor presidency from the executive boards of the two unions as part of a “unity team” for elections at the convention.

Dias, who doesn’t have a big public profile beyond the CAW, acknowledges the task will require a lot of hard work and perseverance but insists it won’t be daunting.

“It’s obvious working people are clearly looking for an alternative and any hope,” Dias said in an interview. “We see it every day. They’ve had enough.

“They’ve taken quite a hit from successive right wing governments and employers who are still taking advantage of some difficult economic situations from years ago to push them down even further. And workers with no unions have been hammered even harder.”

Labour’s power and influence have waned in Canada during the last decade through a combination of global market forces, battle fatigue and union complacency including less organizing. The CAW and CEP have lost more than 20 per cent of their strength — or about 80,000 members — in the last five years.

Unifor, a unique name that stands for making union benefits available to every Canadian, wants to quickly reverse the decline with a huge push in organizing to improve “density” in key sectors.

Furthermore, it plans a lot more participation in the social fabric of communities through the formation of chapters that would press for local jobs, save neighbourhood public services, protect the environment and pursue other causes.

Unorganized workers and the general public could join by paying nominal fees to the chapters which would be outside traditional union-certified workplaces.

The union believes a surge in membership will increase bargaining clout while community ties will boost political influence in the interest of workers.

Furthermore, they say there are few signs that governments in Canada are easing up on weakening worker and union rights or companies are willing to share more profits.

Although the 54-year-old Dias noted that many other leaders and activists will drive Unifor’s ambitious agenda, there is no doubt a lot will be riding on him. He expects the union will pay him about $140,000 annually over the next three years and his work week will climb from an average of about 65 hours to 75 a week.

Charlotte Yates, Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences at McMaster University, says Dias is young, energetic with experience in knowing where militancy can pay off. He has also probably dealt with the worker agony, helplessness and fallout of more plant closures than any other union official in Canada, she said.

“Your past experience defines your strategic response,” she said. “It shapes what you see as possible and also your understanding of constraints.”

Dias has the credentials and union blood in him. His father — Jerry Dias Sr. — led Local 112 of the United Auto Workers at de Havilland which Bombardier now owns. The plant, Toronto’s biggest industrial operation in suburban Downsview, was a hotbed for labour strife.

As a teenager who played football and hockey, Dias initially had aspirations of becoming a physical education teacher. But he took a year off from York University to work at the plant and help pay for his education. He never returned to school.

Dias handled parts deliveries around the plant but before long, he jumped into a shop steward’s job. He had found his calling.

“I loved it,” he said. “It gave my life some direction. I had responsibility representing people.”

Dias rose to plant union chairperson and then won the Local 112 presidency in 1987. Labor and management clashed. Grievances abounded.

“It was a battleground,” recalled Dias about his de Havilland days.

Those days also included a successful union campaign to save the plant from falling into foreign hands and facing an unsecure future.

Dias had also met his future wife Leslie, an Air Canada customer service agent and now a CAW staff representative. He has four children who are now adults, including one who aspires to become a physical education teacher.

He held the Local 112 presidency for six years until 1993 when the CAW’s national office appointed him a staff representative.

After years of various responsibilities in overseeing union operations in different sectors including aerospace and auto manufacturing, president Buzz Hargrove promoted him to a top assistant’s position.

“He had energy and good experience,” Hargrove said. “I also told him we realized he knew how to fight from his de Havilland days but now he had to learn how to close deals.”

Merv Gray, the de Havilland plant’s current chairperson and a longtime friend of Dias, diplomatically describes the two of them as “aggressive guys” in regular confrontation with management then but they eventually “matured” into more effective representatives.

“He’s changed,” Gray said. “Jerry is more thoughtful and positive but he will take a hard stand if he feels it’s needed.”

Yates and other labour watchers stressed that Unifor’s execution of organizing strategies and developing strong community links will be paramount in creating momentum and traction during the next few years.

For example, Yates said when Unifor organizes employees in big non-union, low paying sectors like retailing, the union has to be careful in what it can promise and realistically achieve in contracts. If it can’t deliver, new members would lose interest.

And it will also cost Unifor a lot of money to organize and negotiate gains in sectors where employers are openly hostile, she added.

“That will be a challenge,” Yates said. “The key to the vision is how you execute so it is sustainable.”

She noted that’s why it may be advantageous for Unifor to build community bonds so that it can influence changes in legislation to benefit people in the workplace and their personal lives.

Pradeep Kumar, professor emeritus of industrial relations at Queen’s University, added that Unifor and other labour groups have to spend more resources on education and communicating with their members. That would include labour history, the benefits and importance of a union, its working and how members can become active.

Kumar said Unifor represents a significant attempt at renewal in the labour movement which has changed slowly despite major economic and political shifts during the last decade.

“At the same time, I’m very optimistic about Unifor’s future because of the way they are proceeding,” he said, adding that other unions could follow.

Meanwhile, Dias predicted that a major “pushback” and more labour unrest is coming, particularly if governments and employers continue to take a hard line in legislation and bargaining.

“And young people will lead that charge because I see them being very militant,” he said. “They won’t accept the norm anymore.”

The growth of “precarious work” where people receive low pay, juggle multiple jobs and have no security will only fuel conflict, according to Dias.

“Companies are doing much better now and there are no justifiable reasons why wages and benefits should remain stagnant,” he said. “We’ve been playing defence too long, It’s time to go on offence.”

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